Effect of Diet on Glucose Tolerance of Dairy Calves One to Thirteen Weeks Old

Abstract

Sixteen male ttolstein-Friesian calves, three to four days old, were placed on one of four diets (four calves per diet) for a 13-wk experimental period. The diets ineluded the following: Diet 1, milk and milk solids; Diet 2, milk and grain; Diet 3, milk, grain, and hay, inoculated (rumen ingesta from a mature cow introduced via stomach tube into the rmnen of an experimental calf); and Diet 4, milk and grain, inoculated. Once each week after a 12-14 hr fast, 750 mg glueose/kg body weight were administered intravenously to each calf for a glucose tolerance test. Calves on Diet 1 had a constant glucose tolerance over the experimental period; a gradual decline in glucose tolerance was observed for calves on Diets 2 and 4; and calves on Diet 3 had a sharp decline. There may have been a slight difference in glu-l~eeeived for publication